Minority Business Conference Coming to Columbia: Are you part of a minority-owned business? If you’re interested in learning more about how to do business with the city, don’t miss the free Minority Business Opportunity Conference on Wednesday, April 10, hosted by the City of Columbia.

Participants will learn about the city’s procurement procedures, find out how to become a certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), and meet the people who purchase goods and services for the city.

The City of Columbia is committed to providing opportunities for small and minority businesses to succeed, according to program coordinator Kalenna Ginyard, who heads up supplier diversity. City Manager Teresa Wilson has said that 10 percent of citywide purchases should come from vendors designated as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises. “It helps the small businesses, and it diversifies the supplier base,” Ginyard says. “It helps increase competition, and helps women-owned businesses as well.”

Ginyard says research found that minority and women-owned businesses were “substantially underutilized” in Columbia, and the conference was designed to continue closing that gap. “The city is committed to economic growth for all of the community,” she says.

The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Senate’s End, 300 Senate St. 

To register, visit obomboconference.eventbrite.com, and to find out more, contact the city’s Office of Business Opportunities at 803.545.3950 or www.columbiasc.net/obo. --Leigh Savage

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The newly formed group Conservatives for Clean Energy SC has released a poll showing strong state Republican support for clean energy: According to the poll, potential general election voters in the Palmetto State lean red, with President Donald Trump showing a 12-point lead over any Democratic candidate in the 2022 campaign, while 55% said they would vote for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham if an election was held today. 

For many this will not come as a surprise. But what they may find surprising is just how strongly South Carolina Republicans support clean energy, based upon Conservatives for Clean Energy SC's findings.

According to the poll from the clean energy activist group, "72% of SC Republicans support the development of clean energy," while "62% of SC respondents oppose drilling off our coast."